


on the topic of big feet

by seunghyuk (orphan_account)



Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Crack, Don’t worry, M/M, but like . soft crack, first of all : there will be no romantic interactions with bigfoot, hyperrealistic crack, in every sense of the word, jihoon doesn’t deserve woojin in this if i’m honest, lapslock, this is a joke, this is strangely soft, which is the only realistic thing about this, woojin is disgustingly whipped for jihoon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-02
Updated: 2018-01-02
Packaged: 2019-02-26 13:48:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13237017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/seunghyuk
Summary: in which bigfoot enthusiast park jihoon and bigfoot denier park woojin set out to find bigfoot in the californian wilderness, and love ensues. in many directions.





	on the topic of big feet

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pxrkwoojin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pxrkwoojin/gifts).



> this was supposed to be a christmas present but i couldn’t finish it in time, so now it’s a new year’s present instead. thank you for making 2017 brighter, saskia ♡ 
> 
> thank you to the lovely isabelle (chamseobs) for beta reading this ! let’s hope bigfoot has found happiness somewhere out there. 
> 
> this is obviously a joke and resulted from a conversation that went ... a little off track. it’s not nearly as cracky as i had initially planned for it to be, but it turned out better than i thought it would (considering it’s a bigfoot au). if you’re one of my mutuals and have had enough of me talking about bigfoot, it’s finally over now. enjoy !

park jihoon considers himself very well versed in the science of the bigfoot.

and yes – it’s a science, he’s adamant about that. a very intricate one, too; one that calls for patience wider than the vast ocean that separates him from the very object of his fascination, a passion stronger than the blue tack holding up his various bigfoot posters. conviction, too, of course – rooted so deeply in his heart that it lets him face the disturbed looks of his peers with nonchalance.

yes, he understands that the sight of a 61x91cm high-resolution poster of bigfoot may be an unusual one, but don’t you understand minhyun-hyung? this magnificent creature is walking the earth right now, somewhere across the waters that i may never cross and if i can never see it for myself, then at least let me have this. besides, that particular poster had been a christmas present from his brother, so really, he has no choice but to let bigfoot stare him to sleep every night. yes. that’s it.

  
(minhyun blinks silently but doesn’t say anything; just shoves the bag of food into jihoon’s hand with a tight-lipped smile and bids him a wordless goodbye. jihoon wonders if he’s ever going to regain his respect. then again, it could’ve gone worse he figures. at least he didn’t scream.)

 

  
park woojin is the exception to the rule.

  
in a world of scarce scientific evidence, jihoon has learned to exploit every 280px video he stumbles upon, find patterns in every collection of inexplicably blurry pictures he can dig up from the depths of obscure bigfoot forums – irregularity is inevitable in the whirlwind of fake footage and chaotic discussions that have cemented themselves into his life, but the small revelations he makes are his constant. that, and park woojin, maybe. he isn’t so sure yet.

  
what he’s sure of is this:

  
1\. bigfoot appears to avoid rural and landlocked spaces.

2\. bigfoot has a preference for the colder seasons but avoids rain.

  
(maybe he’s lonely, jihoon thinks. maybe he’s seeking the warmth of the bustling city that he may never step into; holes himself up in his cave when it’s raining outside and huddles close to the wall that he’s decorated with pretty flowers of his choice. jihoon wants to be his friend.)

  
3\. whenever he reveals the contents of his room to somebody who hasn’t grown used to the plethora of bigfoot merch that adorns his every wall and piece of furniture, he’s met with looks that range from confusion to skepticism to fear. except when his new roommate park woojin walks in on his first day of sophomore year, he stares right into the eyes of the 61x91cm high-resolution bigfoot, then looks at jihoon and shrugs. jihoon almost drops his coffee.

  
(“it’s cool,” woojin says when jihoon questions him about his lack of an incredulous reaction. you’re cool, jihoon almost says in the overflowing joy of the moment. “really?” he asks instead and shuts the door behind woojin to reveal a map of bigfoot sightings taped to the back of it. woojin smiles, “it’s not often i see passion like this. besides, it could’ve very well been gdragon, right?”. jihoon is only a little offended about him comparing his scientific pursue of bigfoot to being a gdragon fan.)

 

  
if you asked jihoon which one he liked better – bigfoot or park woojin? – he’d answer bigfoot in a heartbeat. this is not a surprise, neither to jihoon nor to woojin nor to the slightly tipsy guanlin who’d asked him that question in a strange attempt to prompt another petty fight between the two. what comes as a surprise however, is the ease with which his mind supplies him with the knowledge that woojin is a close second in the list of questionable priorities (not including his family which he holds dearer than bigfoot, even).

  
“don’t worry, i still love you,” he says in response to the realization that woojin is his second favorite person in the world, after bigfoot who arguably isn’t even a person. “bro.” he hastily adds because no homo. sapiens, that is. no homo sapiens, because only bigfoot resides in his heart and bigfoot clearly doesn’t belong to the species of homo sapiens because that would be anatomically inaccurate. yes.

  
woojin pats his head. “i know bro,” he answers and slings his arms around jihoon’s shoulders to pull him into a clumsy hug that has their faces hovering dangerously close, noses bumping.  
guanlin almost chokes on his nonexistent salad.

 

  
so – park woojin is a special individual. not quite as special as bigfoot, but then again park woojin hasn’t gained urban myth status. he also doesn’t roam the forests of north america, which is good because jihoon likes having him roam the premises of his university’s campus instead. in other words, park woojin is good company; indulges his daily pondering about bigfoot’s wellbeing, leaves him alone when he’s absorbed in evaluating evidence from the latest sighting and backs him up when jihoon inevitably finds himself in another heated discussion about the existence of bigfoot. he also brings jihoon coffee every tuesday and thursday; and friday when he’s feelings extra generous.

  
in _other_ words; park woojin is a special individual that jihoon cherishes with all the space in his heart that isn’t currently occupied by bigfoot. that is why it comes as a heartbreaking shock to him when woojin tugs at his sleeve one drunken evening, looks up at him with wide eyes from where he’s slouched against the foot of the couch and says:

  
“don’t hate me, but i don’t actually believe in bigfoot.”

  
(he opens his mouth to say something else too, but daniel slaps his palm over it before he can speak a word. “that’s enough for tonight, woojinie,” he says and drags him away by the arm. jihoon sees it happening but doesn’t think he quite registers the scene with the way he feels a part of his heart breaking off and floating out into the endless ocean that he hates so much.

  
“top 10 anime betrayals,” daehwi comments helpfully.

  
jihoon agrees.)

 

 

* * *

 

 

  
it is that faithful night that reignites the fire in jihoon.

  
all his life he’s dreamed of finally making the long journey to the forests of north california where bigfoot was famously sighted in 1967 in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the subject of his endless fascination and communicate to him that he’s not alone; but he’d never dared to act on the idea.

now, with woojin the bigfoot-denier hanging off his arm, whining about his pounding headache and his lack of memories of last night, jihoon realizes that the time has come – not only to fulfil his dreams, but also to prove his point. so he books two tickets to eureka, california, a bus to willow creek and a spot with a travel group that will pass through orleans and hopefully come back three nights later. jihoon isn’t too sure about the last part, but he’s sure they’ll find their way back eventually.

  
“happy early birthday, woojin!” he says, three weeks after said faithful night, on a bright and sunny july afternoon and presents the booking confirmation to him. “what?” woojin responds, but exchanges his (jihoon’s) iced americano for the piece of paper anyway. “we’re going to california?” woojin asks after scanning through the document in his hands. when jihoon merely nods while idly sipping on his iced americano, woojin shrugs and says “okay”. jihoon has always been aware that woojin goes to lengths to indulge him, but the open acceptance comes as a surprise, even to him.

  
“are you sure about this?” he asks, iced americano and fiery determination momentarily forgotten amidst a sudden surge of worries. what if they get mauled by a bear in the middle of the californian wilderness? what if woojin gets hurt because jihoon doesn’t know how to appease aggressive bears? what if the travel group never comes back for them and they end up wandering through a nameless californian forest only to then be mauled by a bear only a kilometer away from the nearest main road? what does jihoon have against bears? jihoon doesn’t know, except that he’s always been inexplicably terrified of the kumamon plush that sits on woojin’s bed; but he knows that he could never forgive himself for endangering woojin.

  
“sure,” woojin answers easily and takes the iced americano from jihoon’s hands to steal a sip. “this is your dream, right?”  
jihoon nods. woojin smiles, snaggletooth flashing.

  
“let’s do it then. i’m sure it’ll be fun.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

  
the vastness of orleans’ forests is as breathtakingly beautiful as it is scary. jihoon suddenly doesn’t know how he’d ever hoped to find a single creature in a space bigger than the conviction in his heart, but woojin tugs him away from the sight of the valley before he can let the thought grow.

  
it goes like this:

  
in a long struggle that resembles that of assembling ikea furniture, they (woojin) set up the tent. the right side looks a little uneven, pole sticking out where jihoon is sure it shouldn’t be sticking out, but woojin looks satisfied with himself and jihoon isn’t here to complain.

  
their camping bags are quickly emptied. because they’re broke college students and jihoon had worn out his funds to pay the travel expenses, the contents mainly consist of packets of instant ramyun, many bottles of water and a kettle that woojin had almost forgotten at their dorm. in a miraculous moment of nature meeting them with sheer goodwill or something like that, one of them (jihoon) manages to light a fire big enough to bring the water in their kettle to a boil. night falls on their tired figures slurping ramen around the fire and brings with it the realization that after all this hassle jihoon has made them go through, he still doesn’t have an inkling of an idea of how to proceed.

  
“so, what do we do now?” woojin asks after they’ve discarded their trash in a trash bag like the decent tourists they are. jihoon shrugs. the fire crackles in the background, its warmth radiating just far enough for it to touch jihoon’s palms that he’s stretched out towards it. then, because he doesn’t know and he can feel the faint excitement in his heart dying like the very fire in front of him, he stands up, trudges to his camping bag and pulls out the 61x91cm high-resolution bigfoot poster.

  
“maybe this will help,” he says, half-hearted laughter ringing loudly in the empty orlean night. he tapes it to the nearest tree with industrial strength tape. woojin smiles.

 

  
sleep is sparse. despite everything, a small surge of excitement jolts jihoon from his light slumber every single time a branch cracks outside. next to him, woojin’s chest rises and falls in even breaths but jihoon knows he isn’t asleep because he hasn’t received a single kick to the side so far.

  
“woojin,” jihoon whispers, because the night is vast and empty and jihoon suddenly feels a little scared. woojin’s eyes flutter open in a heartbeat, fingers closing around jihoon’s wrist.

  
“what is it?” he asks, voice warm with worry despite its rough character. jihoon retracts his arm, pulling woojin along with him. “is everything alright?”

  
jihoon nods quietly. he zips open the entrance to the tent and steps out. woojin doesn’t let go.

  
“come watch the stars with me?”

 

( _it goes like this:_

  
at some point, when night has blurred into early morning, jihoon finds woojin’s arm around his shoulders. woojin is warm, warmer than the blanket they’ve haphazardly thrown around them; than the flutter of excitement jihoon feels when his gaze falls on the bigfoot poster.

  
“you wanna know why i’m so obsessed with bigfoot?” jihoon mumbles, cheek pressed against woojin’s shoulder. the _obsessed_ leaves a bitter taste of his tongue, but he supposes it’s the truth. he hopes bigfoot doesn’t hear him.

woojin doesn’t answer but jihoon feels his shoulders shake as he nods.

  
frankly, jihoon doesn’t really know either. “i don’t really know either,” he says, then, because he offered an explanation and that is the only thing he has to give. “sometimes you just need to believe in things, i guess.”

  
woojin is silent. for a second, jihoon thinks that perhaps, he’s fallen asleep, head resting against jihoon’s, but then he feels his grip tighten around him.

  
“i believe in you,” he murmurs. his voice is quiet but it rings loudly in jihoon’s ears.

  
“i might not believe in bigfoot, but i believe in you, park jihoon.”)

 

  
morning brings a new surge of motivation. woojin shakes him awake, then proceeds to attack him with a nordic walking stick woojin had borrowed (stolen) from jisung on the day of their departure and brought for no reason except that _“it’ll come in handy, you’ll see!”._

  
“is this what you meant when you said it would come in handy?” jihoon asks groggily and promptly flings his apeach pillow in woojin’s general direction. woojin dodges it easily and it flies right out the entrance to the tent somewhere into the orlean wilderness. jihoon can only hope he missed the fireplace.

  
“good morning princess.” woojin grins. jihoon thinks he sees a spark of regret in his eyes.

 

  
they wander out into the forest, then hike down to the river that flows through the valley. somewhere along the way, jihoon finds a spot that carries a slight resemblance to the one in the legendary patternson-gimlin film whose details he’s come to learn by heart. they decide to set up a small camp in the nearby forest and eat a quiet lunch that consists of mushy ramyun and a can of flat sprite they’d left out in the sun for too long. the wait is tortuously long and silent, but jihoon doesn’t dare to speak a word in the fear of driving away an approaching bigfoot. instead, he busies himself on his phone, occasionally texting woojin to make sure that he hasn’t developed boiling feelings of hatred for jihoon.

(the messages arrive minutes later because internet connectivity is virtually non-existent – jihoon figures it would be easier to communicate his worries directly by looking at woojin intently or something, but woojin has been regarding him with a strange look all day and jihoon doesn’t want to think about what it means.)

  
the day is fruitless. when they finally return to their camping spot, the sun has begun to travel down the sky already. the scenery is beautiful, shades of red and orange flooding the forest that stretches out in front of them, but jihoon’s eyes are fixated on the ground, feet kicking away branches and scattered leaves with each step. woojin is silent next to him, hand hovering next to his. at some point, his fingers thread through jihoon’s, calloused warmth engulfing jihoon’s cold hand. when jihoon doesn’t react, woojin begins to swing their hands back and forth, a quite chuckle escaping his lips.

  
“tomorrow,” he says, soft voice a stark contrast to his exuberant actions. jihoon laughs, even though he isn’t sure why.

 

  
“tomorrow.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

  
tomorrow sees progress in ways jihoon hadn’t expected for it to come in.

they head out into the valley again, equipped with an old travel sized board game and the nordic walking stick, and return as fruitless as the day before; except that jihoon now has an extensive collection of photos of the site (and woojin’s nostrils) and a detailed map of all possible places bigfoot could be lurking based on the nature of the terrain.  
on first glance, the camping sight appears untouched. the tent still stands in all its crooked glory, pole sticking up into the air proudly. the fireplace is as sad as they’d left it, a single bag of ramyun lying next to it. the apeach pillow lies next to their camping bags, a dark ash stain adorning its front; and jammed under it, a bouquet of flowers.

  
oh.

  
“oh,” woojin says just as jihoon says: “bigfoot.”

  
he isn’t sure what drives him to say it with such certainty, but it’s something about the absurdity of situation, he figures; the assortment of flowers that, on closer examination, turns out to be entirely made up of different wildflowers. when jihoon finally finds woojin’s eyes, he looks bewildered but not incredulous.

  
“it’s bigfoot,” jihoon says again, because suddenly he’s so very sure. sorrowful images flash in his mind, of bigfoot’s lonely habitat and his barren walls that he’s taken to decorate with flowers he clumsily picks on his afternoon walks – his dark eyes lighting up at the sight of their camp, an image of him staring back at him from the tree where the poster has not budged since jihoon hung it up. he must sense that we come in peace, jihoon thinks; heart suddenly swelling at the thought that bigfoot knows his intentions are nothing but genuine.

  
woojin frowns but continues to examine the flowers in silence.

  
“he must’ve come across our camp,” jihoon continues, “and seen the poster! if we assume that bigfoot has similar visual abilities as us humans, it should be reasonable to conclude that he’d easily identify with an image of himself.”

  
woojin halts in his movements. “jihoon,” he says quietly, like he’s about to break sad news to him.  
don’t do it, jihoon thinks because he knows exactly what’s about to come. woojin fiddles around with the bouquet, plucking a few petals from a flower absentmindedly, before finally saying: “don’t you think this could just be somebody playing a joke on us?”

  
(oh my god.)

  
“we’re the only ones here woojin,” jihoon argues. part of him understands that there’s boundaries to woojin’s understanding; knows that woojin only tagged along because he didn’t want to leave jihoon alone but –

  
“i can’t believe you’re going to be like this, woojin.”

  
the hurt rings clearly in his voice. jihoon never meant to blow things out of proportion like this, but there’s something about woojin’s approval that he seeks more than anything else. he doesn’t know what he’d expected – jihoon doesn’t want woojin to play along if he doesn’t truly believe in it only to indulge jihoon, doesn’t want him to feed lies and fake smiles to him only to make him happy – but now that he’s faced with woojin’s sober disbelief, the way he feels his heart plummet leaves him lost for any other words.

  
“whatever,” woojin mutters and presses the bouquet into jihoon’s hands before disappearing into the tent. there’s barely any force in his movement, but the quiet dismissal in his voice strikes harder than any aggression could ever have.

  
jihoon doesn’t follow him. he threads his fingers through the flowers; tries to identify them because maybe he’ll be able to find bigfoot’s territory if he can locate where the flowers are from; but the spark of excitement that had risen in his chest at the discovery is gone, just like woojin.

  
he still returns to the tent that night because the darkness is vast and empty and his heart matches it a little too well. woojin doesn’t say anything when jihoon lies down next to him, but wraps his arm around him anyway. jihoon doesn’t resist.

  
“i’m not mad at you,” jihoon whispers after a moment of silence.

  
“i’m not mad at you either,” woojin whispers back. he turns around to flash jihoon a brief smile and pulls him closer.

 

and that’s that.

 

 

* * *

 

 

  
bigfoot has a crush on woojin.

  
this is the only conclusion jihoon is able to come to when he steps out of the tent in the late morning to find a trail of flowers leading from the 61x91cm high-resolution bigfoot poster to woojin’s camping bag. and yes; it’s woojin’s bag – a single wild daisy precariously balanced on top of it.

  
jihoon doesn’t want to ruin the silent agreement they’d come to last night, but when woojin finally leaves the tent he calls out to him anyway.

  
“hey woojinie! i think bigfoot likes you.”

  
woojin rubs his eyes languidly before finally letting his gaze fall on the trail of flowers.

  
“what the fuck.”

 

  
this is jihoon’s hypothesis:

  
woojin exudes a kind of warmth that even bigfoot, with a possible lack of understanding of human behavior, must be able to sense. it doesn’t come as a surprise to jihoon – woojin’s heart is impossibly kind and it’s mirrored in his actions, the way he knows how to root jihoon when his worries threaten to carry him away, his endless patience. bigfoot; with his correspondingly big heart and a giant void to fill must’ve been drawn in by this warmth and subsequently developed feelings of love for this person in the hopes that they can fill said void. jihoon understands. (he’s also a little jealous.)

  
he doesn’t voice it out to woojin. instead, he zips himself into the tent to ponder in solitude, leaving woojin to cook them another lunch of instant ramyun.

  
if bigfoot was able to take note of woojin’s caring behavior, then he must have been watching them. woojin has been nothing but kind to jihoon throughout nearly the entirety of their journey so it could’ve happened any time, but if jihoon thinks back to the moments that had touched him the most, it must’ve been when they were lingering around their tent.

  
bigfoot must be closer than jihoon assumed.

  
excitement floods jihoon’s chest. he could be watching them right now, lurking in the nearby forest. it wouldn’t be much of a hassle to take a short venture out – maybe, if jihoon keeps very quiet, he might be able to approach him without disturbing him. the thought leaves him giddy – bigfoot, the very object of his endless fascination and passion, is near. jihoon might finally fulfil his dream.

  
it’s only when woojin kicks his foot against the entrance to their tent and jihoon zips it open to let woojin clamber in with two cups of ramyun in his hands, that it dawns on him.

  
bigfoot doesn’t care about him. he only cares about woojin.

  
oh, jihoon thinks. he doesn’t feel his heart plummet, the way it did when woojin first openly voiced his doubts to jihoon. rather, it is a stinging sensation that settles in his heart, an ugly green that pulls at the sheer excitement he’d felt just a few moments ago. is this heartbreak? jihoon isn’t sure – but when woojin holds the cup out to him, he feels a surge of bitterness rising in his chest. he doesn’t thank him when he finally takes it; rips it out of woojin’s hand almost. if woojin notices, then he doesn’t say anything about it.

  
“are you heading out after this?” woojin asks. a trail of broth runs down his chin, but he wipes it away with the sleeve of his sweater before it can drip down onto his pants. jihoon knows that he should find it endearing; file it under “reasons why park woojin is an idiot, but it’s okay because i say this with utmost fondness”, but the observation evokes nothing but a dark sense of annoyance in him.

  
“why don’t you try your luck,” he bites out. quiet regret floods him the second the words leave his mouth – it’s so petty of him to get worked up about this and even pettier to take his frustration out on woojin when he’s done nothing wrong, but he doesn’t know where else to take it.

  
woojin halts in his movements, chopsticks suspended mid-air. the noodles slip back into the cup, droplets of hot broth hitting jihoon’s bare arm.

  
“are you jealous of me?” woojin asks, a hint of laughter in his voice. when jihoon doesn’t respond, hand wiping away the broth in a forceful motion that leaves his skin reddened, the light esprit in woojin’s gaze falters.

  
“you’re actually jealous of me.”

jihoon shrugs.

“because of _bigfoot_.”

  
jihoon doesn’t respond. frankly, he doesn’t know what to say – does he defend himself? he’s aware he’s being ridiculous, but now, with woojin confronting him about it, his emotions suddenly seem valid to him.

  
“yeah,” he says curtly. he turns away from woojin and continues to slurp his ramyun in stubborn silence.

  
“i don’t even ca-“ woojin starts, voice rising, but he cuts himself off, eyes wide.

  
_i don’t even care about bigfoot._

jihoon ignores him. when he’s finished with his food, he clambers out of the tent without sparing another look at him. woojin doesn’t try to stop him.

 

 

jihoon decides to try his luck anyway.

  
woojin zips up the entrance to their tent shortly after jihoon’s wordless departure. jihoon doesn’t see it, but he hears the unmistakable sound of the zip from where he’s begun to rummage through his bag.

  
whatever. he’ll manage to communicate his pure intentions to bigfoot without woojin, he’s sure.

 

  
the sun is high in the sky when he ventures out into the forest. before they’d left for california, he’d sweet talked his way into borrowing daniel’s expensive camera so he could finally pioneer an era of new high quality evidence. today, it is the only thing he’s chosen to bring with him, ignoring his carefully laid out maps and cheap binoculars he’d bought on a whim.

  
frankly, the map wouldn’t have been of much use anyway. the times woojin and him had wandered out into the forest, they’d been careful to stick to a clear path, presumably created by previous campers on a mission similar to theirs; but today, jihoon has decided to ignore the faint trail leading downhill. instead, he ventures directly into the deep forest just behind their tent and prays that either his feet or bigfoot will guide him back to safety before night falls.

  
the compass app is quickly deemed useless. jihoon never knew where he was headed to begin with, so attempting to work his way around the endless monotony of tall trees and the occasional fern by identifying the cardinal points has little sense. he decides to turn off his phone and bury it deep in the pocket of his jeans. who knows, maybe bigfoot perceives the radio waves emitted by his phone as a disturbance – jihoon hasn’t come that far in his studies. now is the perfect opportunity to find it out first hand.

  
(and if his phone had been lighting up every few minutes with messages from woojin asking him to come back, you fool at least you could’ve taken your map with you, don’t you dare ignore my messages, you know i would’ve come with you if you’d asked right? please don’t be like this, i bet there’s bears out there, what if you get mauled by a bear, what do i tell jisung, who’s going to carry your camping bag that thing is _heavy_. please take care, jihoonie – then that may have been a reason, too.)

  
the walk is surprisingly calming. the sense of intimidation and the dull excitement that had been cursing through his veins at nearly all times; woojin’s constant presence, the consequent quickening of his heartbeat whenever his hand would find his – jihoon finds that all these things are easily forgotten in the still serenity of the forest. the sounds of branches cracking under his feet, along with the faint chirping of birds and the faint gurgle of the distant river act to drown out the endlessly cluttered thoughts about both bigfoot’s whereabouts and woojin, laying a blanket of warm drowsiness on him. he’s sure he missed a turn earlier, has veered far off the intended 50m radius, but he doesn’t find it in him to fall into panic about it. instead, he halts and decides to settle on the ground. just like that.

  
composure. composure is what he needs, and composed that is what he is right now; legs crossed and head resting against the trunk of a tree. whether it is truly composure that is keeping him rooted, or perhaps a strange sense of tranquility, he isn’t entirely sure, actually. all he knows is this:

  
bigfoot. bigfoot must be somewhere in this very forest. he nods to himself. and, bigfoot likes park woojin. it must be true, because there is no other logical explanation jihoon can find, no matter how much he wracks his brain for one.

  
bigfoot likes park woojin.

  
he also likes park woojin.

  
yes.

  
suddenly, it becomes so very clear to him – how he must proceed. he isn’t sure how it escaped his attention in the first place, but the answer is strikingly easy. bigfoot likes woojin. woojin, who is currently holed up in their tent, probably playing games on his phone. it isn’t a coincidence that bigfoot has been sharing his heart with woojin all these years; that his mind has been buzzing not only with thoughts of bigfoot but woojin this entire journey. he should’ve never wandered out. his dispute with woojin had probably disturbed the warm atmosphere and driven bigfoot far away, back into his habitat anyway. he should’ve stayed, apologized to woojin, talked things out with him. fallen back into the easy banter, because that is when woojin shines the brightest, all easy smiles and boisterous laughter; radiates the most warmth as the laughter fizzles out into something infinitely softer, eyes fond when they find jihoon.

  
jihoon isn’t stupid – he’s seen the way woojin looks at him, knows that no emotion other than love can drive such endless support. besides, the giant high school girl crush woojin had been harboring on him when he first became jihoon’s roommate had become apparent quickly enough.

  
this is bigfoot meddling in his love life, he thinks. this is bigfoot, telling him to come to his senses and stop turning a blind eye to woojin’s presence that his heart has grown so fond of; the silent flutter he feels in his chest whenever woojin smiles brightly, laughs so loudly that it rings out into the night to fill the void that jihoon hates so much. it doesn’t matter that woojin doesn’t believe in bigfoot, because bigfoot believes in him and shouldn’t that be enough for jihoon?

  
( _shouldn’t it be enough that he chose to believe in you, out of all people?_ a voice supplies. jihoon suddenly feels like such a spoiled brat.)

  
he should’ve never wandered out, stayed, apologized to woojin, talked things out with him. fallen back into the easy banter, until the atmosphere was light enough to carelessly blurt out things that aren’t without care at all, because that is the only way jihoon knows how to say it. he doesn’t think his imagination can do it any justice – but woojin’s belated reaction, the smile that spreads across his features as realization dawns on him, the corresponding smile that finds its way onto jihoon’s flushed face – that must be the warmest shade. the one that draws bigfoot in strongly enough to lure him out of hiding.

  
woojin will guide bigfoot to them, just like bigfoot guided him to woojin. because all the ways lead to woojin. somewhere, an ocean away from the safety of their dorm, stranded in the north californian wilderness, all the ways lead to woojin.

 

  
and, jihoon knows, that is exactly the way it’s supposed to be.

 

 

* * *

 

 

all the ways lead to woojin, but all the ways are identical and lined by trees jihoon hasn’t committed to his memory. 

jihoon’s feet are trustworthy travel companions that lead his way to a small clearing he vaguely remembers passing earlier. then, when he is faced with the option of heading straight on, or either left or right, they give up and urge him to take a break. jihoon refuses stubbornly, despite the dull ache that has been slowing down his steps.

  
the logical answer would be to head straight on, because his initial plan had been to venture out a little without taking any drastic turns – but then again, his initial plan also hadn’t been to fall into a mild trance that would guide him to an epiphany, leaning somewhere against a tree far off his intended path. he tries to identify which direction the faint sound of the river is coming from, but then remembers the one time guanlin had yelled “catch!” at him, standing not even 10m away from him, and he’d looked the other direction. the tiny scrape the basketball had left on him still remains, forever a memory of how jihoon shouldn’t trust his ears. so he doesn’t.

  
which means – he’s lost.

  
the fact that bigfoot hasn’t somehow come to his rescue tugs at his heart a little. in a silly attempt to act accordingly to the results of his earlier epiphany, he closes his eyes and thinks of woojin. perhaps, if he thinks of him hard enough, he will be able to sense his warmth like some kind of aura.

  
it doesn’t work.

  
(he thinks of the shy smiles woojin had given him every time he’d made an attempt to get closer to him when they first started out as roommates; the way his smile had loosened over time, grown into a wide grin that showed off his cute snaggletooth – thinks of woojin’s loud and exuberant ways; how strongly they contrast with his endless patience, the fondness that softens his sharp eyes whenever they find jihoon’s. he feels a slow bout of warmth rising in his chest, weaving through the spaces of his heart but – it isn’t enough. jihoon makes sure to keep it close anyway.)

  
for lack of any better ideas, he steps into the middle of the clearing, cups his hands around his mouth and clears his throat dramatically, before shouting woojin’s name into the skies.

  
“yah, park woojin!” he shouts. “woojin! woojin-ah! woojinie! idiot!”

  
he receives no reply. and if bigfoot had been anywhere near, then he’s sure that his yelling must’ve driven him away. maybe he should’ve thought that idea through a little better.

  
that’s it, jihoon thinks. he’s going to find his end here, in the middle of the forest, not on account of having been mauled by kumamon, but of his own stupidity. he chuckles quietly to himself, then sinks to the ground dramatically, fully intent on taking a nap then and there because he’s had it. then, just as he is about to rest his head on his arm that he’d stretched out on the ground, something yellow catches his eye.

  
jihoon blinks, then promptly rises back to his feet and dusts himself off, before walking over to take a closer look.

  
it’s a flower.

  
next to a tree, previously hidden from jihoon’s line of sight, lies a yellow wildflower. and in front of it, another one. and another one. jihoon’s eyes follow the trail of flowers laid out in front of him to find that its end lies somewhere far beyond where he can see. a surge of excitement courses through him.

 

  
bigfoot. he’s come to guide him home.

 

 

* * *

 

 

the flowers make for a nice bouquet.

  
the sloshing of the river grows fainter with each flower he picks up from the ground, each step he takes closer to their camp (to woojin). the bouquet he gathers in his hand is lovely, he finds – predominantly yellow, but dotted with the occasional pink or white. the yellow ones must be his favorite, jihoon decides. yellow, like the sun.

(yellow, like the sweater woojin had gifted him for his birthday because it reminded me of you. jihoon thinks he’s wrong because yellow isn’t him, it’s woojin; warm and constant like the sun). 

  
a sigh of relief escapes him when he finally spots the familiar green of their tent. he squints and barely makes out woojin’s shadow, pressed close to the ground. he must’ve fallen asleep. jihoon smiles to himself.

  
it is only when he approaches the site and the trees finally escape his sight to let it fall on the space beyond the tent, that he sees him. a tall, dark and hairy figure standing next to their fireplace.  
jihoon feels his heart starting to race.

  
_it’s bigfoot._

  
it’s bigfoot.

  
a stream of thoughts runs through his mind; a voice telling him to suppress the strong urge to launch himself at bigfoot to engulf him in a hug, another one that guides his hand to the camera dangling around his neck. his fingers fiddle with the cover of the lens before they finally loosen it. he shoves it into his pocket quickly, hands finding their way back to the camera in a heartbeat, ready to bring it up to his face when bigfoot turns around and looks straight into his eyes.

  
it’s a kind face. despite all the images he’s studied; the 61x91cm high-resolution poster that stares him to sleep every night; he finds that nothing has prepared him for this sight – bigfoot and his dark eyes, looking right at him with an expression that jihoon can only identify as one of goodwill.

  
jihoon lets the camera slip from his hands. he can’t do it. this moment, and he knows because he feels it deep in his heart, is one of pure trust; only meant for his eyes, only to be committed to his memory.

  
bigfoot smiles. his eyes wander down to jihoon’s hands. jihoon follows them to find that he’d unconsciously tightened his grip around the bouquet. he looks back up to bigfoot, a silent question on his tongue that he hopes to convey without words.

  
_this is what you wanted, right?_

  
bigfoot winks. he lifts up his hands and makes a framing motion, as if he was saving jihoon in his heart, then nods briefly and disappears into the forest.

 

  
jihoon doesn’t follow him. instead, he looks down at the bouquet in his hands, fixes a few flowers that he’d accidentally bent, and trudges up to the tent with confident steps.

  
“woojinie!” he calls. when woojin doesn’t stir, he kicks the tent lightly; just enough for the resulting movement to wake woojin from his slumber. he sees woojin’s faint outline rising slowly before the entrance is finally zipped open to reveal a messy head of hair.

  
“oh,” woojin says, rubbing at his eyes. “you didn’t get mauled by a bear?”

  
jihoon laughs. of course. he doesn’t know what he’d been expecting him to say.

  
“no.”

  
and then, because woojin looks so cute, standing there in his black sweater that’s at least one size too big on him and slipping off his shoulder, hair tousled and hanging into his droopy eyes and jihoon suddenly feels incredibly bold; epiphany echoing in his mind alongside images of bigfoot winking at him; he sinks down to one knee, then and there in the middle of the californian wilderness, holds out the bouquet to woojin and says:

 

 

 

“park woojin, will you be the big to my foot?”

 

 

* * *

 

 

  
+1

  
bigfoot has never known the warmth of love; spent his entire life hiding away from the outside world in fear of mankind and its greedy ways – but when he stumbles across an image of himself one night and discovers two boys huddled close in front of a fire not far from it, he feels something he’s only ever known in his dreams: a static sensation, like a fire waiting to ignite; bright but not harsh and destructive. instead, it is a soft, like the way the boy with the red hair regards his friend. but his friend doesn’t see.

  
bigfoot wants to do something about it.

 

  
(he doesn’t understand the words the boy says to his friend with the red hair; but he is kneeling on the ground, in what bigfoot perceives to be respect, bouquet held out to his friend. bigfoot smiles. he must’ve done well.

 

he doesn’t understand the word the friend utters in response either, but he senses it: the fire, bright not harsh and destructive, but impossibly soft, finally ignited. suddenly, bigfoot doesn’t feel so lonely anymore. perhaps one day, he’ll find something like that.

  
bigfoot smiles and looks at the single yellow flower in his hand that he’d decided to keep for himself.

 

 

  
one day.)

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> i barely did any research on bigfoot for this because i really couldn’t be bothered, so i apologize for any inaccuracies ! also, i uploaded this on my phone so please let me know if i messed sth up, somehow !  
> thank you for reading :)


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